Isaac "Ike" Henry Brokaw papers
Finding aid created by California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives staff using RecordEXPRESS
California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
2020
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Sacramento, California 95814
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Title: Isaac "Ike" Henry Brokaw papers
Dates: 1900-1956
Collection Number: MS 625
Creator/Collector:
Brokaw (Isaac "Ike" Henry) Papers
Extent: 3 boxes + 1 half-box
Repository:
California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
Sacramento, California 95814
Abstract: Documents collection by Ike Brokaw pertaining to his 50 year career as a Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad station agent
and telegrapher at various locations in Iowa.
Language of Material: English
This collection is open for research at our off-site storage facility with one week's notice. Contact Library & Archives
staff to arrange for access.
Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Capital District Collections Manager. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the CSRM as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright
holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Isaac "Ike" Henry Brokaw papers. California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
Gift of Grace Grant, 2000.
Biography/Administrative History
For fifty years Isaac Henry Brokaw was a station agent and telegrapher for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad at
various locations in Iowa. He began his lengthy career in 1895 as a station helper in Rolfe, Iowa and was promoted to relief
man shortly after. At Tara, Iowa he was a telegrapher for both the Rock Island and the Illinois Central. In 1898, he was
appointed agent at Mallard, and moved to Gowrie on the Rock Island's Sibley Branch in 1899. In May 1901, Brokaw went to
Gilmore City. In 1905, he was appointed division relief agent for the Des Moines Valley Division. From 1906 to 1908 he was
an agent-operator at Manson and also Bonaparte. Brokaw attended the Gem City Business College and Institute of Shorthand
and Typewriting and Normal Penmanship in Quincy, Illinois, where he won a medal. In September 1910, Brokaw came to Pocahontas
from Keosauqua, where he remained station agent and telegraph operator until his retirement. An active member of the Order
of Railroad Telegraphers throughout his career, Mr. Brokaw was the first ORT member of Division 35. Even after his retirement
in 1936, he remained active in the Order.
Mr. and Mrs. Brokaw had three daughters. Mr. Brokaw served on the Finance Committee of the Methodist Episcopal Church in
Lake Park, Iowa for over twenty years. During his active retirement he enjoyed many trips by train, operated a rail travel
service, investigated his own family genealogy and researched the pioneer railroads of Iowa.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection contains documents collected by Mr. Brokaw pertaining to his career in railroading and his personal interests
after retirement.
This material has been arranged into two series:
Series 1. RAILROAD HISTORY RESEARCH
Subseries 1. Correspondence
Subseries 2. Research Notes
Series 2. SUBJECT FILES
Mr. Brokaw's collection of railway travel passes is filed with other examples of this format in the Museum's collection.